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Here is the error: 

E: The package libpam-systemd needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.

When I try to update Ubuntu 14.04, I receive the following pop-up windows:

Could not initialize the package information An unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.

Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message: E:The package libpam-systemd needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it."

I reviewed the following post: The package libpam-systemd needs to be reinstalled

When I attempted to input sudo apt-get install aptitude into Terminal, I received the exact same error message.

Per request, full verbatim results from Terminal: https://paste.ubuntu.com/25399467/

David Foerster
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Justin Scott-Coe
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/64564/discussion-on-question-by-justin-scott-coe-cant-update-ubuntu-14-04-lts-libpa). – Thomas Ward Aug 28 '17 at 18:36

1 Answers1

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It looks like you had the trusty-updates repository enabled at some point, which pulled in libpam-systemd in version 204-5ubuntu20.14. At a later point that repository was disabled and something damaged the package installation. Now Apt can't find a suitable package archive to reinstall and restore the package.

For a solution I recommend that you

  1. re-enable the trusty-updates repository in Software & Updates (software-properties-gtk),

    Software updates settings

  2. update the list of available packages,

    sudo apt-get update

  3. perform a package upgrade with the -f/--fix-missing option:

    sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -f libpam-systemd
David Foerster
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  • If all else fails you can also locate missing packages for your distribution on Ubuntu at https://packages.ubuntu.com/ – Elder Geek Aug 28 '17 at 16:32